Saturday, August 26, 2017

Email to students in the 3 March 2018 A.D. Defensive Pistol course --Hi Students, We're seven months out from our class and we already have questions that I feel I should answer to everyone.

Never fire warning shots. A warning shot is not legally justifiable under any legal theory in any state in the United States. (Yes, Vice President Joe Biden is an idiot.) There is no safe place to fire a warning shot. Any shot fired into the air will come down with approximately equal speed as it went up. (Gravity is a conservative field.) 400 feet per second is sufficient to break skin. Your 1800 foot per second bullet will kill when it comes down on someone. Any shot fired into the ground will ricochet off the asphalt road, concrete sidewalk, or rock in the ground, and hit someone, maybe you. If you fire a warning shot, that's reckless endangerment.If you hit someone with a warning shot, that's gross negligence.If you kill someone with a warning shot, that's negligent homicide. And these are all best case scenarios. (Simply presenting the pistol, without pointing it at the person, without legal justification is assault in most states.) If you had time to fire a warning shot, you were not in immediate threat of death or grave bodily injury. So, you lose your claim of self defense.

Never shoot to wound. Shooting in a high stress combat situation is extremely difficult. Hitting your intended target is a low probability event. Hitting an arm or leg is a zero probability event.* That means that you will almost always miss. Every miss is destroying property and injuring innocent bystanders, perhaps killing them. So, you must always shoot to the center of mass of your target. There are only two reasonable targets to stop the attack [We never shoot to kill. We always shoot to stop the attack. This is very important. This is what you must say to the police. This will play at your trail, if you are prosecuted for your self defense shooting.] : the high thoracic cavity, defined by the nipples and the notch at the top of the sternum; and the cranio-ocular cavity, defined by the eyes and nose. (These are from the frontal aspect of the assailant. For other aspects, see the lesson plans.) If the enemy is behind cover, then the target may be a foot or an elbow. In that case, it is tactically correct to shoot to the center of mass of that target. Because, whoever inflicts the first hit will usually win the fight. Minor injuries can cause a psychological stop, as opposed to a physical stop. [Physical stops require damaging the central nervous system or massive blood loss.]

Carrying a firearm without a solid understanding of the law of self defense is an act of criminal stupidity. Understanding the law gives you confidence. Which allows you to move quickly. And act decisively. A lack of confidence will cause hesitation, which will result in your death or the death of the ones you are trying to protect.

Cheers,Jon

* Zero probability events happen all the time. Zero probability does not mean the event can't occur. It means the measure of the probability space of that event is zero. "almost always" is a technical term in mathematics. It doesn't mean that the complementary set is null. It just means that the measure of the complementary set is zero.

"Why High Performers Feel Awkward In Mediocre Groups,
And What They Can Do About It"https://soflete.com/blogs/knowledge/why-high-performers-feel-awkwardExcerpt:". . . most underachievers are seeking an experience, not the pursuit of excellence." Please take the author's words to heart. Aaron is talking to YOU, about what you are doing in your defensive pistol practice (and the rest of your life). The author uses the acronym GWOT which stands for Global War on Terrorism. This war was declared by the second President Bush by executive order. (Yes, I know that Constitutionally, only the Congress may declare war. But, I'm talking reality, not legality.) I've received written orders that cite this executive order. There is also a classified executive order that we operated under. To the best of my knowledge every President since has signed a document to the effect that all executive orders of my predecessors remain in effect. They are of course, superseded by new executive orders. Did you ever wonder why there are relatively few terrorist attacks in the United States compared to the rest of the world (Europe and Africa for instance)? It's because we kill the terrorist before they attack. Such killings are not murder because they are not illegal. They are extralegal. More words to look up in your dictionary, more concepts for you to research. Because it is important you understand the world you live in. Ignorance allows you to live in bliss, until reality rudely awakens you or kills you. "Law enforcement can arrest them. That will keep us safe." What happens when we arrest them and send them to Gitmo? President Obama releases them and they return to their units and kill us in the field. So, we end up having to kill them in the field. The scary thing is that this actually makes sense to some U.S. citizens and elected politicians.

Hick’s Law: Reaction time increases with the number of choices. Hick, W.E. (1952), “On the Rate of Gain of Information”, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 4, pages 11-26.
(I could not find a hyperlink for this article.) So, always wear your equipment in the same place. Always execute immediate action when the gun doesn’t go bang. It will be obvious when something else needs to be done. Always shoot to the center of mass of whatever the available target is. The fewer decisions you make, the faster you go. The fewer options you have to choose from in each decision, the faster you go.

"Fighting: Technique and Equipment" http://defense-training.com/2017/fighting-technique-and-equipment/Excerpt:When you are not prepared to confront your own death (with a grim smile) and chose to fight courageously, and die when that is the final outcome, for values and beliefs that are more important to you than life itself, then you are, in truth, unprepared and should never consider yourself 'well trained.' -- Ron Avery

"Training for Close-Range Defense with Your Concealed Carry Gun"https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2017/8/4/training-for-close-range-defense-with-your-concealed-carry-gun/ In combat (as opposed to training) the signal to initiate the use of force will be visual, not audio. So, having your training partner cause a visual change that signals your action is reasonable. For instance, when the flashlight illuminates the pistol that the target is holding. If your flashlight is not bright enough to be seen in daylight conditions, you should probably get a brighter flashlight. (Or, put something reflective on the target, so that it will flash when your flashlight covers it.)

Notice the significant number of law enforcement officers killed with their own weapon, https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka/2015/tables/table_19_leos_fk_vo_killed_with_own_weapon_disarmed_of_weapon_and_weapon_stolen_by_offender_2006-2015.xls That is why weapon retention training is an essential part of your training. I once caught a football only to have a defensive lineman pull it away from me and run it in for a touchdown. And I was hanging on tight and correctly as I was taught. No matter how big and strong you are, there is always someone bigger and stronger, who will rip that pistol out of your hands. If you give him the chance. So, if you're not holding the pistol at arms length to aim, you have to keep your pistol pulled in tight to your body in a compressed ready or close contact position. Holding the pistol out at a low ready position is wrong, because it makes it easier for the enemy to take it from you. Yes, as a matter of fact, criminals practice disarming techniques in prison. Prison is higher education for criminals.

THE IMPORTANCE OF "WHY" - REACTIVE WEAPON MANIPULATIONShttp://blog.suarezinternational.com/2017/07/the-importance-of-why-reactive-weapon-manipulations.html I often post articles that conflict with what I teach. If your gun does not fire, I teach "Tap, Rack, Point In (which means to align the sights, place the top of the front sight on the center of mass of the target, take the slack out of the trigger, and assess the situation)", because I think the shooting should always be an intellectual decision, not a programmed reflex response. Gabe Suarez disagrees in this article. Please consider his argument.

***** Gear *****

A former student told me that while test firing his pistol, a Rorhbaugh 9mm, the slide of the pistol jammed to the rear. Yes, you have to test fire your firearms. But, that's not enough.You have to stress test them, by doing a training course with them. Only then will you find out under what conditions they will fail. Test firing on a square range will not give you sufficient information. Many, many of my students have determined that certain pieces ofequipment don't work or need fixing to make them work reliably. In this case, the Rorhbaugh cannot be reloaded using commonly taught techniques, and the operator cannot clear malfunctions using commonly taught techniques, because it does not have a magazine release button or lever accessible by the firing side hand. And worse, commonly taught one handed techniques for reloading and malfunction clearing won't work with this pistol. There are many expensive, finely made pistols that are not designed correctly for combat use. As John Farnam says, many manufactures don't have any operators on staff to field test their prototypes before they start manufacturing. (Personal communication in the context of a holster that he had written about in one of his quips.)

Student: I frequently draw from concealment which for my everyday pistol means a pocket holster. You are right. So much depends on type of pants and if you are standing or seated. Jon Low: A pocket holster is a bad idea on many levels: The pistol is not accessible when in a seated position. You can't keep anything else in that pocket because anything can get inside the trigger guard, which will foul your draw or fire the pistol. When seated the pistol is pointed at the person across the table from you (or worse, at your femoral artery), which violates our safety rule. I read a long list once, but I can't remember all of the other reasons on that list. Inside the waist band holster at 3 o'clock (or 9 o'clock for left handers) is the best. Because it allows you to present from the holster to the target without covering yourself or anyone around you.

Tactical Thought Crime And The War On Derphttp://ballisticradio.com/2017/05/31/tactical-thought-crime-and-the-war-on-derp-podcast-season-5-ballistic-radio-episode-210-may-28th-2017/Excerpts: (I paraphrase. -- Jon Low) The instructor who says, I don't need to learn anymore because I am just teaching beginners, is being disrespectful to his students.(at 18:42) I see a huge number of instructors who are woefully unprepared . . . (at 20:10) Teaching beginners is actually the hardest work in the training industry.(at 23:26) Is your life worth defending? . . . Some students have not given themselves permission to protect their own lives.(at 30:30) You may be the only person who has spoken to the student about self defense, and self defense with a gun. You have a high responsibility to know what you're talking about, and get it right. Because you may be the only voice they hear in their mind's ear at 03:00 AM when they are attacked in the dark by the home invader.(at 35:00) Take classes with the best instructors. Take the class left handed if you are right handed. Take the class with a revolver if you usually carry a semi-auto. Observe how the instructors teach you. So, you can model their behavior for your students. Take the class to learn how to teach better, not to learn how to shoot better.-- Kathy Jackson, The Cornered Cat

***** Education *****

Statistics from John Farnam: Having presented your pistol to an assailant, the odds that you will have to shoot him are 1 in 30. The average American will buy a pistol and run 7 rounds through it in his life time. When a gun shot wound arrives in the emergency room, only 3% will die.

Law of Self Defense Podcast 8-14-17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XKNUnnbNCY
Excerpt: Road rage -- Don't stop. Drive away. Once you present your pistol, you have a non-zero probability of dying, you have a non-zero probability of going to jail. There is no way to reduce the probabilities to zero. [Once your case goes to trial, you have a 10% to 20% chance of being convicted (assuming you are morally innocent), because the jury is made up of people who were not smart enough to get off jury duty. And the prosecutor would never prosecute an innocent person. But, that's okay. It's better to be alive in prison than dead. Why aren't you dead? Because God still has work for you to do. In prison, you might be able to bring a lost soul to Christ. If you stop thinking about yourself and concentrate on helping others, YOU WIN! -- Jon Low]

Two Cities!http://defense-training.com/2017/two-cities/Excerpt: "There is a feeling of personal dignity and independence in grasping, literally, the power to back, with lethal force, your refusal to be a target of violent crime. This is not a 'sense of power.' It is the experience of escaping from a sense of powerlessness." -- John Longenecker